Report explosion near MI6 building in London

LONDON - Firefighters and witnesses said at least one possible explosion went off late Wednesday near the headquarters of the MI6 intelligence service in central London. Emergency officials reported no casualties.

The blast reportedly took place in the area of the MI6 building, close to Vauxhall Bridge, which crosses the Thames River not far from the Houses of Parliament.

The London Ambulance Service, which sent crews to the scene, said there had been no reports of any casualties 90 minutes after the reported blast. ''I think an hour and a half later it is safe to assume there are none,'' a spokesman said.

A report overheard on the police radio said everyone in the building had been accounted for and that there were no injuries.

A London Fire Brigade spokesman said crews were called to the Vauxhall Cross area on the south bank of the River Thames at 9:25 p.m., and that the incident was believed to be an explosion.

Police, who said only that they were investigating two loud bangs, immediately closed off the area. The building looked intact from a distance of several hundred yards, but witness James Trott, 42, said there was shattered glass on the river side of the building.

The MI6 headquarters, a big modern structure, was featured in the James Bond movie ''The World is not Enough'' and in one scene was shown being blown up by a terrorist bomb.

''We just heard two God-almighty bangs, a loud one first, and then another one,'' Theresa Harding, 68, who lives nearby, said. ''We honestly thought it was fireworks.''

One witness, Andrew Preece, told BBC News 24 he was driving home when he saw a flash of light coming from the top of the MI6 building.

''It looked as of it was internal from the center of the building but the flash of light was from the top of the building,'' he said.''It was followed by a large bang and the ground seemed to shake and my car was shaking.''

Witness Alex Frank said he was in his his bedroom across a railway from the building when he heard two explosions.

''I heard two distinct explosions and massive white clouds over the railway tracks,'' he said. ''There were definitely two explosions of the same strength. They were loud enough to shake the building I'm living in.''

The Foreign Office, which is responsible for MI6, said it was aware of the incident but had no details.